Every race weekend in Formula 1, 20 drivers go out on track, and only one of them is victorious. Every driver aims to be the one to stand on the top step of the podium. Considering it’s 2023, and F1 is under the rein of Max Verstappen and Red Bull, not many drivers have that chance. That hasn’t stopped intra-team battles from arising, though. As much as every driver wants to beat everyone else on track, their first goal is to beat their teammate. Pierre Gasly looked well on his way to doing so at the Japanese GP, but it ended in Alpine sacrificing him.

The Enstone team has had a very turbulent 2023. With a management shake-up, an influx of investment, and not a lot of good racing outings, Alpine isn’t in the best shape right now. It doesn’t help that it’s also had quite a lot of DNFs this season, two of which have come in the past three races. Both of which were credited to Esteban Ocon. While the Japanese GP came close to being another disappointment for Ocon, things turned out in his favor. But it came at the cost of Gasly.

Pierre Gasly will find it hard to forgive Alpine after the Japanese GP

Throughout the weekend, the Alpine drivers were quite comparable in pace. Ocon seemed to have the upper hand, though. But Gasly turned it around in qualifying and set himself up for a P12 start, with Ocon in P14. As the five lights went out, things looked like they were taking a turn for the worse for Ocon. A first-lap incident with debris flying around the track resulted in a puncture for Ocon. He had no choice but to pit for hard tires and put in a good first stint.

Gasly lost places in the first lap as well. But because of several retirements and an extended first stint, both Alpine drivers found themselves in the top 10. After Gasly pitted for hard tires, he slowly made his way through the field. Pierre was running in P8 behind Ocon in P7 when Alpine pitted the latter on Lap 30 of 53 to undercut Gasly and their rivals. When Gasly pitted on Lap 35, he came out behind Ocon. On Lap 47, when Gasly caught up to the back of Ocon, Alpine employed team orders to switch drivers because Gasly was the faster one. That’s where it got interesting.

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Towards the end of the race, Gasly and Ocon were running in P9 and P10. On the last lap, the team ordered Gasly to give back the place to Ocon. The 2020 Italian GP winner furiously replied, “Mate, what the f**k! I was faster! If he wouldn’t have passed me, I would’ve overtaken him anyway.” His engineer simply said, “We’ll discuss it in the office!” The Frenchman still couldn’t believe the team asked him to swap positions when he was clearly faster. He asked again, “Are you serious? Are you being serious? I started in front. I was in front the whole race. And then you let him undercut me.” Ultimately, he had to let Ocon pass and settled for a disappointing P10.

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It was an unnecessary move by Alpine. The best they could’ve achieved was A P9 and P10. It wouldn’t have really mattered who finished ahead for the team. Since Gasly is ahead in the championship and was the faster driver, he felt he had to sacrifice a crucial point. If it’s any consolation, he wasn’t the only driver who fell prey to team orders.

Oscar Piastri met the same fate as Pierre Gasly

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was having a stellar weekend in Suzuka. It was his first time navigating the high-speed twists and turns of the track. Even so, he handled it like a pro, one-upping his teammate on Saturday. Piastri has already lost the qualifying head-to-head to Lando Norris this season. That didn’t stop him from showing up Norris in Suzuka. With a mega performance in qualifying, he secured his first front-row start in F1—a P2. With Norris in P3, McLaren was set for a good Sunday.

Off the line, Piastri got close to overtaking Verstappen, but Norris was even better and almost jumped both of them. Settling for P2, he had Piastri chasing him. But the Aussie undercut Norris, and when the Brit pitted, Piastri was asked to make way for Norris to pass him. His engineer said, “Into Turn 1, we’re going to swap positions to minimize time loss.” Norris, like Gasly, was the faster driver. But unlike Gasly, he wasn’t asked to give back his position to Piastri. While Gasly didn’t get anything but an infuriating urge to lash out at his team, Piastri did get a consolation—his first podium in F1, courtesy of his P3.

Do you think Alpine’s call was justified? If it was, should McLaren have done the same with Piastri and Norris, too?

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